Processing Beeswax

I'm still processing all the beeswax left over from our beehive. (Sadly, our bees died this last winter.)

I'd call processing wax a labor of love, but the only thing I am experiencing right now is the labor. 

I have decided to forgo beekeeping this summer.

I'm a little heartsick and discouraged that our bees died. 

Even so, it will be a real loss not to try again right away, because we get so much joy and wonder upon opening the hive and admiring the bees and their labors. 

But this summer's calendar is already filled up with travel, even more than last summer. 

And I know from my difficulties with traveling and managing hive checks last summer that it will be even harder to do it all this summer.  

We are planning more camping trips, the regular trips to Dwayne's parents and my Mom's, and we need more travel time, especially, to move and settle a beloved daughter in another state. She starts college in the fall. 

So putting beekeeping on hold is probably the wisest thing to do.  

We'll still attend beekeeping club meetings when the times work for us. 

We'll keep learning.

I'm planning to clean and sell my Layens hive. 

I'll also sell some of my excess equipment. 

I may take the time to put a fresh coat of paint on my Langstroth and I'll burn it out, so it's good and ready for the next spring. 

Maybe I'll be ready to order a new batch of bees in one year's time.